Editorial: May Toyota prove it has learned from its mistakes

Tuesday

Feb 23, 2010 at 12:01 AMFeb 23, 2010 at 11:17 PM

First, there were problems with the gas pedals on a host of cars. Then, the brakes on Prius hybrids. Now, with 8.5 million vehicles recalled worldwide - 6 million of them in the U.S. - Toyota may be put on the defensive yet again regarding concerns about the steering on its newer-model Corollas.

First, there were problems with the gas pedals on a host of cars. Then, the brakes on Prius hybrids. Now, with 8.5 million vehicles recalled worldwide - 6 million of them in the U.S. - Toyota may be put on the defensive yet again regarding concerns about the steering on its newer-model Corollas.

Suffice it to say, the world's largest automaker is in a world of largely self-inflicted hurt at the moment. Toyota, once the gold standard in safety and quality, has taken a PR hit of late that has torpedoed more than just its stock price, with company leaders severely criticized at first for being slow to discuss the problems and implement plans to correct them.

Corporate leaders ultimately have done the right thing, erring on the side of safety after looking at the available data, with dealers working their service departments round the clock in some locations to address these issues. Locally Toyota has added mechanics and is open until midnight. When lives may hang in the balance, that is the only appropriate choice.

Toyota plans to have an outside review of its operations to find and fix trouble spots, and has promised to do a better job communicating with Uncle Sam over future safety worries. That needs to include a prompt, nothing-held-back response to the Department of Transportation investigation into what company officials knew and when they knew it about the gas pedal and brake problems. Millions in potential fines await their response, and they need to justify to their customers, too, that they didn't dally before announcing recalls. If they did, they should face the consequences.

Given what's at stake, Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda is right to have reconsidered his initial hesitation about testifying before a congressional committee holding hearings into the matter. If he wants to restore confidence in his brand, it's a grilling he can't and shouldn't try to avoid, impolite and camera-conscious as members of Congress can sometimes be.

In fairness, there have been many misconceptions regarding the recalls. First, those who have crowed about "foreign-made" cars being brought low by a recall ignore the modern truth of automobile production. Toyota may be headquartered elsewhere, but the parts that go into its vehicle come from multiple lands and many of its cars are made in the United States by American workers, just as American companies get parts - and indeed produce cars - overseas.

Some of Toyota's American plants, in fact, are looking at being temporarily idled in coming weeks now that the company is seeing less demand. Given America's already staggering unemployment rate, no one should be applauding that.

Meanwhile, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood took some flak earlier this month for what some thought was an over-the-top warning to drivers of recalled Toyotas. Many only heard the Peorian warn Toyota drivers not to drive their cars, but ignored the words that immediately followed, in which he essentially repeated the company's own warning to take the cars to the shop to get fixed. Chalk this up as not just a reminder of how easily things get twisted and tangled in Washington, but as a refresher that LaHood has no doubt taken to heart of the power a Cabinet member's words carry.

Ultimately these kinds of problems will crop up from time to time, as they do with any brand. While they are to be taken seriously, rarely is panic called for. May Toyota fix these problems promptly, and move on to sell products to Americans, made by American workers, another day.

Peoria Journal Star

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